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    Local Artist Spotlight: Heather Wirth

    It’s tough to put a definition on what makes someone a professional artist, but I believe that Heather Wirth embodies that definition with everything that she does. Trained at the Columbus College of Art & Design, Heather’s artwork is executed through oil painting. But her professionalism comes into place with a large range of other projects that she juggles. Heather is the founder of the Columbus Artmobile, a mobile educational course that brings local artists together with children of all ages to help fill the gap where art funding has been cut in schools. She is also one of the pioneer tenants at 400 West Rich Street in Franklinton and is now also working as the leasing agent for the building. And when we recently spoke to Heather for an interview, we learned that she still has a few more projects planned for the near future.

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    Read on for our full Q&A session:

    Q: First, tell us a bit about your artistic background and upbringing?

    A: I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland to parents who had grown up in essentially the same general neighborhood, as had my grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. After High School, it took 5 or 6 years for me to realize the option to move to another part of the country actually existed, which was something that had honestly never occurred to me. I love Baltimore but it wasn’t “mine”, and I never really felt like I could become anything there. I had moved back in with my parents and was living in their basement and generally discontent with everything about my life, wondering why I couldn’t see to figure things out… so one night I couldn’t sleep and started combing back through college catalogs I had never thrown out. There was one that stood out to me, with beautiful pictures of students painting on rooftops, throwing clay on the wheel and blowing glass and living lives that seemed to be centered around art. The back page read something like “read this when it’s 3am and you’re tired and hungry and clueless about what to do next, and we’ll see you in the fall.” It was a catalog from CCAD, and a year later I was here.

    Q: What type of media do you prefer to work with?

    A: I started out using pastels, watercolor and acrylic paints because those were the mediums that I had had formal instruction in and those were where my comfort level was. After High School I taught myself how to work with oils, and they have been my passion ever since. I try to incorporate dry medium with wet, so I often will draw in conte or charcoal before doing an oil overlay, but oils to me are so perfect in every way. I love the chance to go back over my work again and again, constantly evolving it, and honestly the tactile process of playing with paint is just as much fun at 36 as it was in Kindergarden. It’s pretty common for me to spend way more time mixing colors than actually painting. When I was attending the University of Maryland, I switched my major for two years to theater scenic design, and had it in my head that I wanted to move to New York and work on the sets for Broadway musicals, so there’s a little part of me that still loves doing scenery and making props. I can paint a brick that looks like a brick and I have faith at some point this skill will make me a millionaire.

    Q: Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind Columbus Artmobile and why you wanted to create this project?

    A: The Artmobile was a dream I had had for six or seven years. I became increasingly more frustrated watching schools lose their art programs and couldn’t understand why more things weren’t being done by local artists to intervene and offer up some of their own talents. I had an idea for a group of artists to get together and find a vans or a bus and start hitting the local schools and offering classes in their individual specialties. In February of 2010 I presented the idea as part of the Couchfire Collective‘s FEAST event, and walked away with a grant of $1,125 to launch the program, with the original intention of operating it for only six weeks. It’s been almost two years and we’re still going, and expanding to reach more kids every day. It is the hardest job I’ve ever had, and the good and bad of it is that when the money runs out, I have no choice but to raise more. We have to keep it going because there is just not another option for these kids.

    Q: What sort of interaction do you have with kids through the Artmoble project?

    A: I learned early on that kids can smell bullshit a mile away, especially the ones I work with, who tend to live in lower income housing or in more impoverished areas. Being real with them has been the key to gaining their trust, and the way to get them to start expressing their own creative sides. Most of the classes I have with my High School students end up being more of a dialogue between them while they work on their art, rather than a discussion about the art itself. I’ve heard everything from the aftereffects of the tsunami to the evils of corporate greed being discussed among the students, which makes me think that art is more of a catalyst for them to relate to each other than most of us probably realize. Which then makes it all the more sad that these are the classes being cut… the ones that allow the kids to think and process and discuss and reflect and just explore their imaginations rather than learn facts and memorize answers. And these kids are WAY more interested in my love life than I would have ever thought. So much worse than my parents…

    Q: How did you first get involved at 400 West Rich?

    A: Ass backwards is the only way I can think of to describe it. I was living in Clintonville in a house I didn’t want to be in, and working a job that I didn’t want to be at, and I wasn’t making nearly as much art as I wanted to be making, so at the beginning of the summer I just started uprooting my life. I had a very real conversation with myself where I realized if I wanted to be a professional artist — whatever that means — and expect others to consider me that, I was going to have to stop screwing around and really make a go of it and invest in myself. I quit my job and moved into a teeny tiny apartment Downtown and started living off my savings. At the same time I kept hearing that studios at 400 West Rich were being snagged up, so I came by for a tour, fell in love and moved in the following week. I didn’t have a plan. I guess in hindsight the plan was to not go broke. I was working in my studio all day, every day, running out of money and I think Chris Sherman probably just decided to take pity on me by offering me a job.

    Q: So you’re now working at 400 as the leasing agent. What types of tenants are you seeking, and what type of environment does 400 provide?

    A: Well, I think it depends on who you ask as to what tenants we’re seeking. I’d love to fill the building with 6-foot-tall guys in their 30’s who listen to Pete Yorn and smell like hazelnut coffee and sawdust. But in the interest of equal opportunity… we want to fill the building with artists from every potential discipline and background who will appreciate us for what we are… a work in progress. This building is so special, and it very well may always have the occasional leak here and there, but with all it’s imperfections, it is the most perfect place to find inspiration. Ultimately, I think we’re working to create the kind of environment that is reflective of the people in it. No one here is looking to make a mold and then ask folks to fit into it. We’re asking what kind of mold we should make, and then creating what will benefit the artists here.

    Q: Between all of these projects it sounds like you keep really busy. What else would you like to add to your plate if you can make some more time?

    A: Lots! I have such a short attention span. I’d like to hike some of the Appalachian Trail next spring. My youngest brother did about half of the trail a couple years ago and I’ve been wanting to hike a few miles of it ever since. I’m also back in school to get a degree in Counseling and have plans to attend grad school in either Seattle or Denver, whichever city has a larger population of depressed people who need counseling. I’d like to do some traveling as well, possibly working with existing arts programs in other cities to expand the Artmobile. Being a painter is a given with any new road I take, the painting will always be there alongside anything else I do.

    Q: Last but not least, tell us where we can find your artwork in any upcoming shows or exhibitions.

    A: I have 2 solo shows of my own work planned for next year. Baltimore, Hon is a show at Image Optical in April that will showcase some work inspired by my hometown, and a second show is planned at Wild Goose Creative in November. The Columbus Artmobile is also always around! Our classes for homeschoolers are starting back up in January, based out of 400 West Rich. I’ll be continuing the afterschool program with students at Columbus International High School, and I’ve been working with the OSU Urban Arts Space to launch a citywide afterschool arts program that will start this spring.

    More information about Heather Wirth can be found at www.columbusartmobile.com.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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